Severino Gonzalez is far from a household name. The 20-year old pitcher from Panama is a starting pitcher for the Lakewood Blue Claws and he had a start last night that he is not soon going to forget.

Gonzalez did not allow a base runner in his six innings of work last night as he struck out nine Delmarva Shorebirds. The perfect game was broken up when Lakewood reliever Zach Cooper hit the first batter of the seventh inning and the no-hitter was broken up by the next batter who singled. The Blue Claws, led by manager Mickey Morandini, went on to win the game 1-0.

The 6'1" 153 lbs. righthander was making his second start to Class-A Lakewood. In two starts (10 innings pitched) for the Blue Claws, Gonzalez has allowed no runs on just two hits while striking out 15 batters.

In 12 games (one start) in Single-A Clearwater, "Seve" Gonzalez was 1-1 with a 1.63 ERA (six runs, five earned) and a 0.77 WHIP (21 hits and three walks). In Clearwater, Gonzalez struck out 33 batters in just 27.1 innings of work.

The book on Gonzalez shows that he is a strike-thrower who will pound the strike zone and attack hitters. His fastball sat at 92 mph last night and he mixed speeds to keep the hitters off balance. If he can continue to be effective like this and throw strikes, he could find himself carving out a nice career as he progresses through the minors.